Goodyear Rubber Manuf Co v. Goodyear Rubber Co

• Decision Date: 10 December 1888
• Citation: 9 S.Ct. 166,128 U.S. 598,32 L.Ed. 535
• Parties: GOODYEAR'S RUBBER MANUF'G CO. et al. v. GOODYEAR RUBBER CO. 1
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

128 U.S. 598

9 S.Ct. 166

32 L.Ed. 535

GOODYEAR'S RUBBER MANUF'G CO. et al. v. GOODYEAR RUBBER CO.¹

December 10, 1888.

Frederic H. Betts, J. E. Hindon Hyde, and Samuel R. Betts, for appellants.

w. w. MacFarland, for appellee.

FIELD, J.

This was a suit in equity, brought by the Goodyear Rubber Company, a corporation created under the laws of New York, to restrain Goodyear's India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Company, a corporation created under the laws of Connecticut, and others, defendants below, from using the name of 'Goodyear's Rubber Manufacturing Company,' or any equivalent name in their business. The bill alleges that the plaintiff was organized as a corporation on the 20th of November, 1872, for the purpose of manufacturing and dealing in India rubber and gutta-percha goods, under its corporate name, in the city of New York; that it engaged in business in that city, where it has three large warehouses, with branch houses in other cities; that since its organization it has continually used its corporate name on signs at its various places of business and factories, on its bill and letter heads, on its various articles of manufacture, and on its corporate seal in contracts and other business transactions; that by reason thereof it has become possessed of an exclusive right and title to its corporate name, which, from its inseparable connection with the business and good-will of the company, has become of great value; and that its exclusive use is essential to the prosperity of the plaintiff. The bill then sets forth that at the time of its organization there existed a corporation carrying on business in the city of New York under the name of 'Goodyear's India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Company,' and dealing in various articles of which India rubber formed a component part, its business being similar to that of the plaintiff; that prior to the organization of the plaintiff, in November, 1872, that company conducted its business under its corporate name, using it on its business signs, on its letter and bill heads, on its seal, and in all contracts and business transactions; that after the creation and organization of the plaintiff that company began to call itself 'Goodyear's Rubber Manufacturing Company,' and, for the purpose of diverting to itself the business and goodwill of the plaintiff, resorted to various devices and contrivances having for their object the imitation and appropriation to its use of the plaintiff's name; that among these devices was the representation of the words 'India' and 'Glove,' sometimes in small letters, and sometimes by initials, thereby constituting a name for practical purposes almost identical with the name of the plaintiff, producing much loss and inconvenience to plaintiff's business, by causing a diversion of letters and telegrams addressed to it; that for the like purpose of taking from the plaintiff its customers and trade, and appropriating its good-will, that company, on or about the 1st of January, 1882, adopted for its principal sign the name 'Goodyear's Rubber Mfg. Co.' over the entrance to and in front of its warehouses; and that these devices deceive the public, and divert business and customers from the plaintiff, by which it sustains, and, without the interference of this court, will in the future sustain, great loss and damage. The bill also alleges that the defendants Allerton and Vermule, with other persons unknown to the plaintiff, pretend to be a corporation under the name of 'Goodyear's Rubber Manufacturing Company,' and that they are the principal owners and managers of the business carried on under the name of 'Goodyear's India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Company,' and of 'Goodyear's Rubber Manufacturing Company,' and, as such, direct and control whatever is done under the names of both.

The several defendants appeared, and filed answers to the bill. These allege in similar terms that the defendant Goodyear's India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Company was organized as a corporation under that name, in Connecticut, in 1847, for the purpose of manufacturing India rubber goods, and in 1849 obtained license for their manufacture under patents of Charles Goodyear, and continued in that business during the existence of those patents; that after their expiration, and in 1865, and continuously since, it has manufactured and sold very largely all kinds and classes of India rubber goods, treated according to the patents of Goodyear; that it has been for upwards of 20 years the most prominent corporation or association in the city of New York engaged in the manufacture of those goods, and has become known to the trade by abbreviated and generally used titles of 'Goodyear's Rubber Manufacturing Company,' or 'Goodyear Rubber Company,' or 'The Goodyear's Company,' and other similar titles Abbreviated from its full corporate name; that the name of 'Goodyear,' in connection with the word 'Company,' or 'Co.,' or with similar brief letters or words indicating a company engaged in rubber manufacturing, has been its distinguishing characteristic; that by adoption of the name of Goodyear, in connection with its business and acquiescence of the public therein, and general usage, that company acquired a valuable right and interest in it, and has exercised the same for upwards of 20 years; that its use has been recognized by the plaintiff and its predecessors in repeated business transactions; that a large part of its correspondence during this period has been under the abbreviated names of 'Goodyear Rubber Company,' 'Goodyear's Rubber Manufacturing Company,' or 'Goodyear's Company,' or other similar abbreviated title; that it registered a trade-mark in the name of Goodyear's Rubber Manufacturing Company, and for the...